


Unwavering loyalties

by GrumpyTsundereShipper



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Seal master, slow burner, smart naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-08-14 08:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16489235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyTsundereShipper/pseuds/GrumpyTsundereShipper
Summary: Naruto has seen many things in his life, this was not one. A peaceful classroom in the safety of Konoha, the village of fire is always a foreign sight to someone with Naruto’s past.In which Naruto flees a war torn village back in the Academy days and enters the Academy a little later than other students. His advanced skills of seals and his past in his bloodied village are secrets the hyperactive blond keeps close to his chest, but desperate times call for desperate measures.





	1. Chapter 1

Overwhelming silence. Naruto clenched and unclenched, sweat seeping off him heavier than his anxiety. He felt hyper aware of his surroundings, the wood pressing into his legs, the weight of his elbows on his desk. The weight of his smile on his facial muscles. It hurt so badly, the itch to release his face from its vice-like stretch was almost as strong as his hatred of his being out of control. 

In reality the classroom was all but silent, the idle chatter was humming similar to a old car engine, deviating in its droning every so often to watch for patrolling teachers. It was all white noise to the young blond although the occasional screaming from the girls in greeting to one another made him twitch. The girls back in his village would never make such a noise, neither would the boys, men or women. Even if they did it wouldn’t have been audible over the screaming or the deeply entrenched fear that dripped from their crumbling walls, metaphorical and literal. 

 

The smiling... was hard. Respect for those who grinned ear to ear constantly blossomed in the new Academy student as he fought the itch. The classroom was warmed with the buzz of youth, green branches sat leisurely behind the glass, relaxed in themselves and their artificial green. That’s what it was, that’s what Naruto saw. The smiles, the people and the area. The entire damn village was so artificial it made Naruto’s eyes hurt. Pillars of sand is what this great village stood on, is built on, Naruto could see the flood coming, the clock that mockingly ticked its way to Konoha’s fall. 

 

So Naruto smiled, artificiality was what powered this village so he would tap into the source if it meant he no longer had to wash the blood off of his front door. 

“Quiet down, we’ve got a new student coming in today, he’ll be joining our class.” A brunet with a scar evenly spread over his tanned face announced, Naruto assuming he was the teacher, stood and skipped down the steps. 

His body tried to reject the foreign movements, nearly making him tumble down the shallow steps and resulting in a lot of giggling. 

“Hi! I’m Naruto Uzumaki.” He stopped, confused at why Iruka was gesturing for him to carry on.

“Naruto, your likes and hobbies?” Naruto had no idea that was something people did, in his village a last name was the only thing that was expected, anything else you had to keep to yourself. It was just expected.

Holding the burning smile in place Naruto attempted to save his slip up, “Right Sensei! I like.... Ramen!” Blurting out the first thing that came to mind and regret was already starting to settle, “and I-“ the door rocked open, promptly interrupting Naruto’s introduction. 

“Sakura! Late again.” Iruka tutted at the pink haired girl who turned sheepish quickly,  
“Sorry Sensei.” She bowed briefly before she hurried towards a dark haired boy who, now Naruto looked, was surrounded by all of the girls. 

It was strange, where the boy sat there were rings of girls sat around him as if they were in his orbit, to add to the illusion they were all facing towards him. Naruto’s blond eyebrows raised at the phenomenon. 

“Ah right sorry Naruto could you please take your seat.” Naruto prowled silently towards a seat, correcting himself after a second to his ridiculous skipping, glad to have the attention firmly on another of a less suspicious background.

 

The boy ended up next to one with a dog peeping out from inside his coat. “What’s with the dog?” Curiosity killed the cat but the satisfaction of his artificial act brought him back. “He’s my best friend.” The dog boy eyed Naruto defensively, waiting for some kind of snarky comment. 

“Awesome! What’s his name?” The mask was locked, he could see it in the other boy’s eyes. 

“Akamaru, he’s friendly he doesn’t bite.” The dog boy offered up the puppy to the blond. Akamaru took one look at Naruto and froze, his nose could smell the lingering scent of blood, something that years of exposure to would ingrain into your very odour that no shower or change of clothes could change. But the eyes, the hard sapphires were the only cracks in his mask, Akamaru’s instincts were to either run or submit. He chose the latter. 

 

Unbeknownst to his best friend’s conflict, Kiba gestured to his genius friend, Shikamaru, to come and meet Naruto. Shikamaru sighed deeply before dragging himself over. 

Soon they were all introduced and the questions ensued. 

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen you in the village Naruto.” 

“Oh I moved recently to be closer to my uncle.” Naruto, energetic and smiley was running out of energy. 

 

“Strange time in the year to move.” Shikamaru posed quietly, studying Naruto tensely. He couldn’t quite figure out what Naruto’s deal was. His entire move was a mystery, and Shikamaru didn’t buy the uncle explanation for a moment. Kiba on the other hand accepted it immediately and without question. He had to ask his father later, it was obvious there was something else to Naruto, and if Iruka didn’t know it was probably higher level intelligence only. 

 

10 minutes later Iruka had finally returned with a sheet in hand, Kiba had explained offhandedly that the entire class had graduated from the Academy and they were being sorted into teams currently. 

That had set off alarm bells in Shikamaru’s mind. Naruto had not been there for the exams nor did there seem to be any unknown knowledge to his abilities, seeing as apparently Naruto had already been sorted into a team. Meaning Naruto had to have been in the village before entering the Academy to have been tested and yet Shikamaru had not heard or seen a hair of Naruto the entire time. In fact, his father had been more on edge recently. Could it have been related?

Team 7, Naruto mused, a girl and two boys. The girl, the one who had been late was Haruno Sakura and the boy who had his own orbit was Uchiha Sasuke. Of course Naruto knew who they were, he knew who the entire class was. He was not about to lose all control in this foreign village.

Uchiha Sasuke was the only interesting one between the two, well Naruto had thought before he had seen the brooding avenger. Now he was just disappointed and bored. Haruno was of even less importance but perhaps he could use her to fill in his artificial performance, to fill in the holes that were blatantly obvious. 

It had been hours and they were still waiting for the Sensei. Hatake Kakashi, the copy nin, son of Whitefang and is a lazy perverted but respected Jounin. 

Naruto knew this was what was going to happen, “ugh! Where is our Sensei!” Sakura groaned, moving closer to Sasuke who seemed intent on escaping her grasp. 

“Dattebyo he’s taking so looooong.” Naruto mimicked, carefully replicating her tone of voice and body language. Complaining out loud was one way you disappeared in the village of the stream. 

“Both of you are so loud.” Sasuke mumbled into the palm of his hand, eyeing the window as a possible escape route. Naruto’s face twitched involuntarily as he tried to maintain his smiling. He was getting tired of smiling. So he decided to do the next best thing to secure the mask. 

“Sakura-Chan! Let’s go on a date ‘cause Hatake-Sensei is taking so long!” It was fluid but a little disjointed.

“No Naruto you’re such a loser. Sasuke-kun is the only man for me.” Heart eyes and pink hair, Naruto was tempted to snort with derision but decided against it. 

Relaxing his face for a moment he furrowed his eyebrows and pouted, which apparently was the best next thing next to smiling.  
“Awww but Sakura-Chan...”  
“No Naruto.” The pinkette’s eyes didn’t detach themselves from the Uchiha. 

Act II, Naruto signed mentally, “Oi Sasuke-teme! How dare you steal Sakura-chan from me!” He pouted again, bouncing over towards Sasuke with his artificial energy. 

As the blond sunshine approached the pale boy Sasuke’s dark eyebrows flicked up as he took in the new boy for the first time. Naruto’s blinding orange jumpsuit and smile were the two largest features on the other boy. So Sasuke didn’t look any further. 

 

The door slid open, a black board rubber fell on his snowy hair. Sasuke and Sakura jumped in surprise, unsure when that was placed there. Kakashi, looking equally surprised, “how can I put this? My first impression of you guys? Well, I hate you.” 

 

Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped, Naruto looked on neutrally momentarily forgetting himself. Kakashi’s eyes settled on Naruto. “Meet me on the roof.” Shunshining, a puff of smoke was the only thing left of the Jounin. 

 

Sakura and Sasuke set off for the stairs, electing to ignore their blond teammate whose entire being had reverted to what it was naturally. The face had fallen, expressionlessness shift against his features, fitting back on. His skip fluidly morphed back into a prowl. 

Of course they had chosen the one Jounin that had seen him before he had reached Konoha, the Jounin that had pulled him out of the wreckage that was the village of the Stream. His façade wouldn’t work with him. 

 

Once all three had reached the roof introductions were in order. “Alright pinky your turn first.” Sakura, upset at the nickname but happily stapled to Sasuke-kun’s side, gratefully started them off, “I’m Haruno Sakura, I like...” giggling as she tightened her grip on Sasuke’s now limp arm, “my hobbies are...” another giggle, before she rounded off, “I hate blond idiots!” 

Naruto would’ve pouted and put a hand over his heart if he wasn’t holding Kakashi’s stare. 

“Now you emo kid.” Sasuke’s expression darkened,  
“I’m not a emo,” A nonchalant shrug was offered instead of an apology, “I’m Uchiha Sasuke, I like tomatoes, my hobbies are training and my dream is to avenge my clan by killing a certain someone.” The deep scowl crumpled Sasuke’s porcelain mask of indifference. Naruto couldn’t help but observe the Uchiha again, curiosity sparked and sated within blinks of one another. 

The boy is naive to chose a life of bloodshed over that of blissful peace, no matter the motivation. Naruto couldn’t help but glower at the clear immaturity of the avenger, unable to even remotely connect with that desire. He had seen enough, revenge on the main instigators of the civil war was far from his agenda, it isn’t something he opposes heartily if it was something that was handed to him on a platter. But revenge doesn’t work that way. 

So Naruto didn’t look any further. He had no use for a immature brat who didn’t understand that not everything was just handed to him. It was clear to Naruto that Sasuke was catered to hand and foot. Naruto’s own childhood was... different. Aside from the battle field raging on his doormat, he himself had already been shunned beforehand, so when one of the sides had abducted him for training he had few complaints. The beast in him was the reason he had been wound up like a tin soldier and set upon his own neighbours. First he was a monster, next he was a mindless soldier, his next step was going to be neutral shinobi of a peaceful village powerful enough to protect itself and stable enough in its economy to stop him from starving. 

He would not allow a rerun of the village of the stream. 

“-uto Naruto!” Blue eyes jolted open, smile twitching. 

“Oh sorry Sensei, right,” he had to recover from his slip up.... never mind, the pink one was staring at Sasuke and the black haired one was too busy brooding, “I’m - uh,” it felt unnatural but sacrifices had to be made, “Uzumaki Naruto, I... like ramen?” Rolling with his previous lie, “my hobbies are t-training and eating, I dislike ramen haters? And my dream is to be decent shinobi.” Moments like this made Naruto grateful his teammates were either infatuated with themselves or the other. 

“A decent shinobi?” Sakura, catching the tail end of it, mockingly preened at his mediocre dream. Naruto, still badly versed in the skills of conversation didn’t catch this and answered seriously, “yes.” 

Mumbling about how weird he was, Sakura turned back to latch herself onto Sasuke, who obviously had not even heard a word of Naruto’s introduction. 

 

“Alright team,” put off a little by how odd the introductions were, “let’s get to the actual last exam to become Genin.”

“Huuuuuh?”

 

——

 

And so, there stood Kakashi, explaining the rules of the bout, jingling the silver bells. Naruto, unaware the other two were not up to his par, stood his ground as the other two darted off into the bushes. He had never had to think about teamwork, he was a one man machine, a lone army, expected to make little mess and even less mistakes. 

Kakashi, going to reach for his little orange book, froze upon meeting Naruto’s eyes. What he saw was obviously enough to make him cautious. 

“Naruto-“ a foot went to collide with his face. Kakashi stood his ground, ducking away before twisting away from a well aimed fist. A knife was out and jutting around kakashi’s face, making shallow contact but enough to draw out blood. Each strike was calculated and if it was any less of a shinobi against Naruto, those killing strikes would have landed. 

“Naruto!” Warmth slipped down his cheek. Naruto’s eyes widened, pausing mid strike to rush back. He had got the message, but that didn’t make Kakashi any less on edge, even with Naruto a few feet from him, he knew Naruto had just been playing with him. Naruto modded understandingly, vanishing into the bushes in search of his teammates. 

Shivering, the lack of hesitation in the movements and uncomprehending... no, uncaring blank stare was enough to make Kakashi remember the day they had dragged Naruto from the hell hole that was his village. The stream ran red with no hint of its former state. 

 

The day Kakashi had been with his team of 3 anbu, scouting the village for civilians to rescue from the carnage. Before Kakashi had even entered the village the stench of blood had filled his senses, potent enough for his eyes to water. The screaming and shouting were deafening, it was a miracle the squad of Anbu could even detect where the civilians were. 

It was when Kakashi had landed did he hear something other than screaming. “Take me with you.” It wasn’t loud but it wasn’t a question. Without a doubt whoever had just spoken was not taking a no for an answer, so Kakashi turned to see who it was he would be escorting out of the war zone. There, amongst the headless torsos and rubble was a red haired boy with blue eyes matching the former colour of the village’s stream, his hair the colour of it after. The burning image was framed by columns of house remains, tilting in towards him like gossiping old women. 

The boy’s shoulders were slumped but tension was clear, the tension of an experienced fighter. The speckled face was somber and unmoving as if had never homed any expressions from birth. As Kakashi had moved towards the boy, the speckles started to adorn the same colour as his hair. This discovery led the anbu to believe the boy’s hair wasn’t naturally crimson. 

Doubt that the boy was a civilian blossomed. 

It was proven when Kakashi felt warmth pool the back of his head. He reached a gloved hand up to the back of his head, only to find it had been dyed the same colour as the boy’s hair and that the boy was no longer in front of him. 

Behind him, the boy removed the knife from the soldier’s neck surgically, not bothering to wipe the fresh blood off of his already blood rusted knife. 

“Why.” Was all that left his mouth. 

Naruto, the soldier boy’s reply was simple, “retirement.” 

 

Sasuke, too busy with his own predicament, pushed and shoved his body in an enraged attempt to free himself from the soil, to notice Naruto’s attack. A gentle thud sounded from behind him made the wriggling become more violent. Naruto circled the other boy, unable to keep the prowl out of his movements. Comprehending his companion’s identity, Sasuke scowled with embarrassment but lashing out in speech, “what do you think you’re doing dobe? I can get out myself.” 

Ah the Uchiha pride, it had cracked up to the legends. Naruto had to hold back the sneering. Immature brat. 

 

Twisting his face painfully, Naruto tapped the soil with a concealed seal in his palm, the Uchiha, previously resembling a dark haired bamboo shoot, sprouted from the ground. “I told you not to! Stop being so useless Dobe.” Blinded, always, by his pride that he didn’t question Naruto’s nonchalant dismissal of a jounin’s jutsu.

A head of pink hair ducked out from a bush. Naruto turned to greet Sakura immediately made eye contact with her. The expression of confusion and mild curiosity made Naruto’s smile stretch wider. She had to be kept an eye on. 

 

Lack of attention made Sasuke lash out, “What is it you want Dobe?” Now, if Naruto had any less self control he would have replied defensively, so he did, “who are you calling Dobe, teme!” Physically butting heads to add to comic affect, Sakura sighed but still cheered Sasuke on.

Mid shouting match Naruto decided to slip in the necessary hint to let them figure out the challenge, “you and Kakashi-Sensei are both so mean, he said taking on a Jounin one on one is impossible.” Pouting, Naruto’s face angled towards the floor, but his eyes staring deviously as he watched the clogs turn in his teammates’ heads. 

Machiavellian in his style, Naruto couldn’t help but take amusement in how slow they were. 

“Sasuke! I understand the challenge!” 

 

Sakura will have to be watched, Sasuke... is of no threat to the goal. No, there is no use for him. Not yet anyways.


	2. the unncessary

It was beginning to get on his nerves. The village, although complete bliss, had a few small faults that Naruto hoped were temporary. The questions, the staring and the smiling. Now, there were a few people in particular who committed these; the staring was the Hokage, Sarutobi, and Nara Shikamaru, the questions were Sakura who didn't believe Naruto needed any breathing space. 

 

The smiling was everywhere at every corner of this damned village. Cursing the village was out of envy but Naruto couldn't help it. Even though he shouldn't feel envious of an environment he was about to be integrated into, as a former soldier and citizen of another village, it felt almost... unfair?  
Using such a childish word made Naruto visibly twitch, but it was the only one that fit the description. 

 

The village of the stream must have been like this once, laughter and smiling filling its very corners, a colourful portrait of civilian life. What did we ever do to be so damned while Konoha lived in bliss, a gated community of sorts. It was like Konoha sat on its very own pedestal, barbed wire running along it's lip whilst other villages in a similar position to the stream scratched at the pillar, Konoha deaf to the cries of those below it. Deaf by choice or by ignorance was to be discovered. 

 

Anyways, the questions. Ever since Sakura had seen his apparent slip up she began her 'investigation'. With the subtly of a brick, she began to poke and prod at Naruto, trying to get him to reveal something about himself.

 

"So Naruto, where do you live in the village, i dont think Sasuke or I have ever seen you around before?" Even Sasuke leaned in a little from his brooding position, intruiged.  
"Oh, I lived in the village, i just lived on the outskirts." Choosing his words carefully, Naruto scanned the road for Kakashi-sensei silently pleading with the silver haired jounin to make a surprise entrance.  
"You weren't at the local school." A statement of fact, he wouldn't be beaten.  
"I was home-schooled, my parents are introverted." Tugging on his hideous jumpsuit, preparing for the next round of questions. Sakura opened her mouth before closing it again, electing to not use the sentence in mind.  
"Didn't you ever go into town?" Sakura hopped up onto the stone wall pursed on the edge of the bridge, peridot eyes glinting, it was strange to see her so invested in something over than her pursuit of the unattainable avenger.  
"Oh I did, I was just very short, I just had my first growth spurt. Why so many questions?" grinning brightly, innocence rolling off of him in waves, designed specifically to throw Sakura off of his tail. Sasuke snorted at his comment, a condescending smirk emerging. The younger blond bristled, even with his act he still found some way to dislike Sasuke. "You're just... weird." Sakura's lips twisted, obviously unable to think of anything more eloquent to explain her new found interest.  
"That's not nice Sakura-chan!" Pouting, "Shut up teme just because you're upset you didn't meet me earlier." Sasuke spun on his heel with a fierce glower. He approached Naruto, irritation sparking, and grabbed his chin. "If i had my way I would never have met you." Naruto made a show of frowning, cursing Sasuke off for being a cold bastard. 

 

Sasuke didn't let go of his chin. When he had gone to let go of Naruto he found he coudn't. Naruto's skin was uncommonly soft, not that Sasuke went around holding people's faces, but it was like... his face was so unused that the muscles were hardly even there. Then there was the twitching, although he couldn't have seen it at any distance, holding Naruto's face meant he could feel the vibrations. The twitching reminded Sasuke of training, when he stretched an underdeveloped muscle for too long and it began to painfully twitch. Why would he feel it when he was holding Naruto's... face? Strange. He mindlessly lifted his other hand to join the other, but he found one of them was rejected. 

 

The warmth in his palm evaporated with no warning, so Sasuke dropped his hand, clenching it in order to contain the warmth, the feeling, before it left. "Sasuke?" Naruto's voice was not made of honey, it did not roll off his tongue and his words were not of silk. It was all very strange. The voice that scathed his subconscious was too foreign to be of Konoha. Nothing to do with pronounciation or accent. Rough. 

 

To have a Konoha accent and pronounciation but to sound nothing like it's residents was strange. Too strange, it made Sasuke's palm twitch mournfully.  
"You said you weren't raised in central Konoha." He had meant it to be a question but it came out as a accusative statement, Naruto's smile dropped a little as he contemplated his answer. He hadn't expected to be questioned by Sasuke, he had tailored his answers to Sakura to avoid rousing suspicion, he had to be careful.

"No, come on Sasuke-teme, you should really listen more." Playful and provoking, yes, that was the way to go. What the hell had tipped off Sasuke? Was his acting not as air tight as he had thought it was?

"I-"  
"Yo!"  
"You're late!"

 

The staring. This was less invasive but much more concerning than the questioning. At least with the questioning Naruto had a chance to convince the other party, to parry off the suspicion. Staring was a different matter; the Hokage was understandable, he was weary of Naruto for good reason, he knew his abilities and temperament. Nara Shikamaru was a problem. Naruto knew of his IQ, like he said, he didn't relinquish control easily. But when Nara had invited him to a game of Shogo Naruto had naively accepted, thinking he could somehow use the opportunity to rid himself of this unwanted attention. It had done the opposite. 

"So Naruto, how are you enjoying Konoha?" was the first question as Shikamaru glanced at the board and back to the sunny blond.  
"Well i already lived here beforehand, but it's nice to be in the centre." Naruto amended cheerfully, eyes narrow and predatory.  
"Oh really?" Shikamaru landed effortlessly on his feet, the lazy demeanour veiling his caution. Naruto's staring became scoldingly hot as he caught onto the meaning. Shikamaru had seen him surprised by the shops and people, obviously noticed his inexperience with the area. He was suggesting that Naruto had not lived in the area previously.  
So Naruto, refusing to panic, moved his piece on the board, "Yes, I've actually only been to the village centre twice, so when I moved for uncle Jiraya it was all so exciting."  
"Strange, you look travelled." He gestured loosely to Naruto's tanned skin, moving his own piece. He was quick. The smile was beginning to resemble more of a gritting of teeth as Naruto deciphered the meaning.  
"Never really left our land to be honest," lamely he moved another piece, "don't see the point in staying inside all the time, trainings the best!" Keeping the happy go-lucky attitude to his vest akin to a bulletproof shield in hopes no more loaded comments were coming his way. "Man, you got me good!" Naruto rubbed his blond hair in a clueless way, staring at the board in mock confusion. 

If Shikamaru's expression was anything to go by, his act wasn't even half convincing to the lazy genius.  
"You were very close Naruto-kun." It was dazed but still loaded. Naruto grinded his teeth, peeved at his own performance but hoping to pass his grinding off for disappointment at losing.  
"It was fun! Let's do this again Shikamaru-kun!"  
"Yeah, let's."

He would not be playing with Shikamaru again. 

 

After shutting Sakura down after many training sessions full of questions, Naruto felt that he could let out a breath of relief. until of course he began sparring with Sasuke, thats when it got complicated.

"Okay boys, I'm going to work on Sakura's taijutsu over here, you two spar over there."  
"No Kakashi-sensei i want to spar with Sasuke today!" Sakura objected brattily, tugging at Kakashi's jacket as he comically dragged her away behind some trees, "you boys have fun!" it was the wink after that which made Naruto suspicious of Kakashi's sudden exit.  
So he turned to Sasuke to made a off handed comment about how weird Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke had obviously not heard what Kakashi had said because he was staring at Naruto. There was no effort to be discreet about this staring either, Sasuke's entire body was angled towards Naruto as if to properly take in the other boy. 

"Ah-okay well, let's go Sasuke-teme!"  
"Don't call me that dobe!" weirdness forgotten, Sasuke charged after the laughing blond as they approached the training ground. To Naruto, when they 'sparred' (his term for play fighting) it all got quieter. The ringing in his ears that made the silence so uncomfortable dimmed into a low hum, mimicking an old car engine. 

Sasuke had promptly tacked the other ninja before they had fully entered the training grounds. They collided with the dry ground with an oompf, making Naruto wince but attack back playfully. Sparring with Sasuke was uncannily similar to playing with a kitten, you poke lightly at them to entertain them and yourself but overall slow down to let them pad your finger. Naruto couldn't lie, he was having fun. Not being armed to the teeth with the impending pressure of taking more lives in a minute than you did breaths wasn't what Naruto, or anyone hopefully, considered fun, perhaps a chore, but never fun. 

 

So Naruto rolled around, played dead, extended his fist a little, so it would be lying if he said the occassional soft miniscule smiles and breathy laughs were complete fakes. This. This is what he wanted, what the reward for accomplishing his goal was. Fun, blissful ignorance of everything around you, reliving a lost childhood through pure moments. 

 

Sasuke had Naruto in a headlock. It was odd, Sasuke wasn't punching as much or using any jutsus, in fact he had announced the entire match would be without jutsus. It was more of a tumble in the mud than fighting, even Sasuke could see that. His palm had been annoying him since that day, and he found the only way to stop it from uncontrollably twitching was to find the source. Which was Naruto. 

"Enjoying yourselves?" Both teenagers were shocked out of their 'sparring' by a far too pleased voice. Kakashi stood a few metres away with a blushing Sakura, staring gleefully at his genin. Only then did the boys register their position, Sasuke had himself drapped over Naruto, most of his body pressed against Naruto's in a suggestive manner that also pinned Naruto to the dry ground. Sasuke looked more irritated than Naruto did at the disruption. 

Hesitantly the dark eyed male pushed himself up off of Naruto but not fully, still leaning his weight onto Naruto from his haunches, reluctant to completely detach himself from the tanned blond. The 3rd and commonly forgotten teammate rushed to Sasuke's side, gushing about the powdery dirt adorning his unblemished skin. Naturally shrugging her off, the Uchiha stood, offering a hand to Naruto undeniably looking for more contact. Oblivious to the intent, Naruto took the hand, not questioning how close the Uchiha tugged Naruto to himself. 

Aside from the prominent whisker scars on his face, Sasuke observed many smaller gashes which had been expertly healed over. He had seen many others in their tumble, ahem 'sparring'. In fact, he had seen the beginning of many dire looking injuries which screamed that the cover story of 'clumsiness' that Naruto had tried passing off was less likely than a blizzard in hell. 

 

"Well, if we're all done, we have a mission." Shunshining away, Kakashi materialised in the Hokage's office. Unfazed, Sarutobi greeted Kakashi somberly.  
"You don't have to do this Hokage-sama."  
"We knew it would come to this when we rescued him, Kakashi-san."  
"He's just a child." Hysteria began to creep into Kakashi's tense objection.

"We both know thats far from the truth."


	3. unseeable

"Come on old man we need a proper one!" The room was far too cramped for Naruto's taste. Who were they fooling? Shadows in a room of this size with those windows? The angle and time of day was off.  
"No Naruto, you and your team are genin, I can't give you any higher, especially with your track record." Finality was in the tone but the mention of his status was intruiging. It was clear what they were and why they weren't allowed any higher, so why was the Hokage bringing it up?

Perhaps it was connected to why there were so many higher level ninjas in the room, or ANBU as this village referred to them, a elite force of the hand picked ninjas by the Hokage. Naruto counted 6, his shoulders rising as he continued to shout obnoxiously at the obviously unmovable leader. Even in a village like this, he would not blame the Hokage for trying to pick him off, although it was a small possibility. Consciously, he could not think of anything he had done recently to warrant any hostile behaviour but of course his skill set and history would make anyone of a higher status worried. 

"So who are we protecting? A princess? A noble lord!" Sasuke was staring again. So not only was Naruto prepared for an ambush, he had to visibly relax his stance for Sasuke's sake. Unbelievable. Maybe he should have chosen another village to take sanctity in, this was far too much trouble. 

"Tazuna, please come in." A c-rank? well wasn't that a surprise, despite the village's peaceful exterior, the existence of the ANBU said to Naruto the village weren't altogether slacking. Which is what led him to the conclusion of the proposition. The hokage would be a fool not to utilise him, which was the more likely possibility than an assassination. 

 

"What the? A bunch of little snot nosed kids?" the dirt coloured flask rested on his chapped lips again, "And you the little one with the idiotic look on your face, you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?

"Huh whose the little kid with the idiotic look on his face?" Sasuke and Sakura lined themselves with Naruto, revealing he was the one who was being insulted. Screaming ensued.

"I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder and i need to get back to my village safely to build a bridge which will change our lives. So i expect you to get me back safely, even if that means giving up your lives." stony silence met this, Kakashi assuring the intoxicated self proclaimed master that it would be done. 

 

"Okay team 7, you'll be leaving in the morning." The team bowed and left with Tazuna. Naruto's posture went from relaxed to openly tense, mask slipping off clean. Iruka, who had been watching the exchange silently at the Hokage's side watched the development, hands unconsciously gripping the edge of the table. Why was he so cautious? This was just a genin.

 

"Naruto." Simple and still, the air in the room had shifted into hostility, the bright grin that branded itself on Naruto's golden skin simmered before evaporating. The boy had switched personalities... every detail of his being, his identity as Naruto the prankster, had evaporated with the smile. The hunched shoulders rolled back smoothly, akin to releasing tension or shaking off an unwanted dream. The orange jumpsuit that shifted naturally as if an extension of Naruto's very being and personality took upon the appearance of an ill-fitting skin, foreign and comfortable.

 

Naruto's eyes were the only part of him that did not shed it's appearance; there was no glint to begin with. The scarred brunet understood why when he caught them, naked in their nature, they were the windows to the reality of Naruto.   
"Let's not insult each other Sarutobi." Those orbs of glassy sky slid to the ANBU's shadows, unable to remove his hand from his shuriken. 

Iruka had never felt so out of place. He was not meant to be here, seeing this. He had seen Naruto before around the village, knowing he was rescued from another village. But he had never imagined this was why the boy was here, he had been so pure... so childlike. 

"Of course Naruto." Sarutobi clicked and the ANBU slunk out of their hiding places to stand against the walls of the room. It was obvious to Iruka that he was not the only one experiencing this sense of intense unease. The ANBU, Konoha's elite, were pressing themselves to the walls in a badly hid attempt to get the wall to reabsorb them. 

"I decline." 

"You have not heard the benefits." Sarutobi seemed unsurprised by the answer. Also he seemed to be the only one aside from Naruto in the room that actually understood the subject of the conversation.   
"You know my agenda, do you not?" The lame nod was enough to satisfy Naruto, "then you should understand why i decline this... opportunity." The word opportunity was drawn out for neccessity of civility, it was in no way there to compliment the proposition.  
"This is non-negotiable Naruto." Sarutobi was hesitant to phrase it in this way but bluntness was always appreciated with Naruto, frivulous and vague commands were transparent to the young solider.   
As was expected Naruto did not respond kindly to the threatening command, he eyed the elite soldiers as if they were inanimate obstacles. The ANBU collectively tried to press themselves closer to the wall, that kind of look easily told them of his intentions. This boy, no this thing, would slaughter them mindlessly if they stood as his opposition. There was no spark of empathy for his fellow humans, no humanity was taken into account when it came to his goal the path taken. It was a closer comparison to a predator and it's prey than human killing their fellow humans. Families, lives, loves, everything that made them human were stripped from them in that moment that Naruto's ambition jaded stare landed on them.

"Stand in my way and i will use force." Naruto's eyes flicked on each of his potential aggressors, daring them, provoking them. Iruka realised in that moment that Naruto had no idea the impression he held, the raw intimidation that was written into him.   
"Naruto, if you accept this proposition to become a part of the ANBU I personally swear to you that you will gain what you want most."  
Unamused, Naruto did not ease at this, preferring to hold his ground.   
"Becoming part of the ANBU is not common, i need to follow the main path if I want to truly become an average and unseen shinobi. Becoming an ANBU and at this age will only bring attention to me which directly contradicts my plan!" Fire began to spark in Naruto at the older man's arrogance and stubborness, an emotion he had not felt since he had left the stream. 

"You are not common and never will be!" the Hokage's temper broke, papers jumping at his flare of emotion, "you were the front man for the Village of the stream's civil war, Uzumaki Naruto, you have been worn blood like a jacket since you were 6!"   
Naruto's tanned expressionless face crumpled unnaturally, the ANBU's adrenaline spiked and their blood began to audibly spasm. 

"I decline." Iruka could see it, Naruto stained with blood. Thinking about it, blood would be more fitting than the orange jumpsuit he had donned. 

"We will keep your involvement a secret, you have my word."  
"Your word has no meaning to someone who has never been done right by." Snappy and uncomposed, Naruto's control of his emotions was slipping if the ugly sneer was anything to go by.

Hokage opened his mouth once more to snap back at the teenager but Iruka beat him to it, reflexive and regretfully getting involved, "Hokage-sama are you trying to get a child to join the ANBU?" The scolding glare of both parties turned on the poor chunin teacher.

"This child-" disbelief.  
"give me your best." Both teacher and Hokage turned on the 'child', standing in the middle of a circle of sweating elite ninjas.   
"You wish to fight the best ANBU?" An opportunity had been sighted. A blond eyebrow was raised at the repeated meaning.  
"I see," Sarutobi continued, wiping his sweaty palms on his robes, willing his shaking hands to stop. So he turned on the ANBU, who were blinking rapidly in horror. "Weasel, go get Falcon." Relieved at the excuse to leave the room, Weasel vanished with thinly veiled anxiety. Moments later another ANBU appeared at the door, oblivious to the events previously transpired. 

"Hokage-sama." He bowed shallowly, contempt at the surprise summon. Falcon, finally taking in the room, noted that every single of the ANBU were not only out in the open, but were attempting to get closer to the wall than the paint. 

"Falcon, you will undertake a sparring with Naruto here. If you win, you will get him on your squad, if you lose... well, thats up to Naruto to decide." Grey eyes widened, he was supposed to fight a child? He had seen Naruto before of course, who hadn't seen the brightly coloured and loud little genin, very hard to miss. So when Naruto spun on his heel to give Falcon a full view of what he was facing, it was not the reality check he had been looking for. 

"Let's get this over with, I have a mission to prepare for." There was no trace of Uzumaki Naruto in his face, this was when Falcon started to question what exactly was going on. 

"But he's a child-" Minutes later, despite his opposition, Falcon found himself in a popular sparring ring for higher level ANBU, watching Naruto disarm himself. 

 

Around the edge of the ring, a crowd of ANBU gathered, their heavy gear catching on one another's at the close proximity. Naruto was starting to lose his patience with this village. He had seen this coming, and he knew the hokage would not have let him go easily, but show boating him to force him to join the elites was not something he was enjoying. 

If he wanted a show, he would give him one. The box one quaking ANBU was holding was being filled nonchalantly by Naruto's hidden weapons. Shuriken, daggers, seals, bottled toxins and a few sealed away swords, were calmly disregarded. 

Falcon mimicked this, only having to relieve himself of half of what his opponent removed. 

 

It was as he neared the centre to bow to his opponent did they connect eyes. Falcon saw his husband smiling and his son laughing in that moment. He saw death.


	4. For ambition

Lazily Naruto positioned his body. Visually, he appeared to be ready to sit down and enjoy a quiet Saturday afternoon. His eyes appeared to be counting the pressure points on a human body. Falcon's specifically.

Lifting his fists in a classic taijutsu style, he could let himself be defeated because his opponent did not appear to understand that defeat did not equal death in all situations. 

His son would be okay, he had taught the boy a lot of life lessons and Falcon was sure his husband was strong enough to raise the boy well and lovingly. The call to start was enough to make the red head jump, not removing his eyes from the teen in front of him. 

Naruto could not let his ambition be torn from him like this, in such a humiliating manner. He refused. He declined. 

So he jabbed first, his body clicking back into place. His vision did not compute the pale walls indented with shuriken marks or the masked opponent, Naruto's glassy eyes saw the crumbling remains of a village, faceless and a red that made it look as if it was blushing. The red of the blush was supplied by the village's blood, strangely on its surface instead of the interior of it's face. In fact the blood was not consistently spread over it's face that adorned craters and protruding scars, it ran down the maimed surface in streams. Maimed by it's own fingers, that scratched irritably at the surface, unhappy with it's own look. 

"-aruto, Naruto! Stop!" Screaming, white noise, of course it didn't break Naruto's concentration, but the hands did. When the blond snapped to, there were 5 different ANBU attempting to extract him from the blue faced shinobi. Reluctantly, Naruto snaked his elbow out from beneath Falcon's neck, perturbed that he had taken so long to incapacitate his opponent. 

Falcon, grey eyes rolled to the back of his head, with blossoming blues imprinted on his pale neck was ripped from Naruto's line of sight within seconds. The hands that gripped his shoulders released him jauntily as if Naruto was burning hotter than a thousand suns. The blond victor blinked away the last of his memories, and took in the room. 

If he hadn't know better he would have thought they had all witnessed a bomb detonation or a mass genocide. It wasn't as if he had killed the man or seriously maimed him and yet they were looking at him like that. 

The Hokage, holding the shoulders of a frozen Iruka, cleared his throat. That display of ferocity was enough to make his caution levels skyrocket, "Naruto, you have won, what is it you want?" 

"I told your shinobi the day he took me from the Village of the stream what I wanted. Retirement." It was a simple concept, yet he could see the jaw slacked expressions of the ANBU in the corner. 

"You will never truly retire Naruto, you should know that." Old age was beginning to feel like a blessing at this moment in time for Sarutobi.   
But Naruto ignored this, obviously already been down that rabbit hole, "You were right. I have been wearing blood for the majority of my life, I have come into contact with many mercenaries in my life, I have enjoyed many weapons and fighting styles, but when you kill for efficiency and nothing else you have reached your limit." No imagination was needed to see the blood that dripped from Naruto's hands, the blood that crawled across his face and freckled it with angel kisses. The soles of his shoes squelched.

"I am tired of red."


	5. Mediocre performances

It was obvious the Hokage would not give up easily. No one becomes such an authority without having tenacity and limitless determination. The thought was enough to really make Naruto grind his teeth as he approached his flat. Sure, the paint was peeling and the walls were paper thin, but it was luxurious to Naruto. 

He had yet to fit the mask back on, after having it off for the first time since he arrived at Konoha he was enjoying the breath of fresh air. His facial muscles ached. Removing the seal over the interior of his apartment, he was greeted with the sight of an obsessively ordered two room apartment. Sure, there were piles of books and scrolls littering the room, but each pile was ordered alphabetically with tabs separating them and the piles themselves were fitted into perfect slots of the room, making them appear more on the decorative side than for practical use. 

Seals that were designed to hide items even from jounins bruised the walls with their broad strokes, not a drip out of place. No photographs nestled on shelves, no sentimental items homed themselves in the apartment other than one. The headband of the village of the stream hung loosely on a mounted sword. There was no attempt to scrub the blood out of the metal or material, it was buried deep enough that there was no question it would ever come out. If there was not the infrequent spots of black that peeked out from the midst of crimson one would be inclined to believe that the original colour of the material was the crimson. The metal had not fared much better. 

 

A knock sounded at the front door, Naruto blinked disbelievingly at his terrible turn of luck. Stiffling a sigh, the mask was slotted back on and he had redonned the seal for his apartment. 

"Dobe open up!" Of course. Of course it had to be him, although in retrospect Naruto could think of a few more people that would be worse company.

"I'm coming teme!" Theatrically, Naruto creating a crashing sound by pushing a pan off of the stove before reaching the door. The door had only opened a fraction before the other boy barged through, making Naruto stumble back a little. "Hey teme what the hell?!" The irritation was not an act, the lack of manners did really irritate him. 

Sasuke paused uncharacterisically. Naruto was acting more animated than usual, which was saying something. The boy was charismatic, yes, but even Sasuke had to say that Naruto was being weirder than usual. 

"Kakashi said that you got into a fight and that I needed to check on you." the needed was emphasized but it was obviously not something Sasuke openly fought against. Sasuke maneuvered around the instant ramen dotting the floor, disgust evident. Naruto wanted to mirror the expression but he knew that would not help him. 

"Whats it to you teme!" defensive and hostile, the perfect default. Kakashi had seen him fighting? Wait of course he did, Naruto had clocked onto the dog mask in the crowd that had been watching.

Sasuke's eyes scanned Naruto for injuries. None, no bruises either. Had Naruto been the aggressor? No, Naruto wasn't the type to attack someone without being provoked and there was little chance of him getting out of a fight unscathed. Near to impossible.  
The disappointment was not fleeting. Not that he wanted to see the shorter chatterbox hurt but if Naruto had a cut Sasuke could have spent more time with him, patched the sun-kissed skin up. Not for his sake obviously, Naruto may be deadweight to his dream, to his ambition, but it's important to gain trust from teammates if you are to perform.... efficiently?

 

The staring had started again so Naruto decided to fill the silence with mindless babble, "I can't believe we're having our first proper mission tomorrow! It's not as high as I wanted but ojii-san is such a stickler." pouting and grumbling, Naruto watched from his peripheral vision as Sasuke dazedly agreed with him. 

"You're fine Dobe, i'm leaving." Sasuke huffed a little too snootily for Naruto's tastes and left the apartment. Impeccable acting as always, the blond haired foreigner congratulated himself before removing the seal once again. 

 

 

It was far too early to be awake, Sakura repeated religiously to every one who came into her path. All this for a c-rank mission, she would have preferred to stay d-rank if it meant sleeping in to a sane hour. 5 in the morning is not a sane hour. But, if her Sasuke-kun was excited for the c-rank, so would she be. She had done her hair especially for today, if Sasuke was in a good mood, she would have to look the part. 

It wasn't for another 10 minutes that the rest of the company appeared at the meeting point, she had greeted Sasuke and Kakashi enthusiastically. Naturally she had greeted Naruto with a sneer and a cutting remark about his appearance. 

 

It was a long journey, with Naruto whining in one ear and Sakura whining in the other, Sasuke was considering just turning back. It was when Naruto stopped whining did Sasuke actually engage in conversation with the under-average tanned ninja. It was nothing to do with Naruto turning his attention away from Sasuke, really, it wasnt. 

 

"Don't worry guys, this is a c-rank mission, there will be no ninja battles on the journey." Kakashi piped up, noticing how tense Sakura was. Naruto couldn't help but be surprised, someone was actually concerned about a ninja battle? Were genins supposed to? Perhaps he had overestimated the capabilities of the genin level.

The puddle, of course there was a catch to this, Naruto just couldn't catch a break. Always a catch, even to a c-rank mission. Kakashi had noticed it to, the foreign nin couldn't expect anything less from his supposed superior. 

From the puddle emerged two mercenaries by the nickname 'The Demon brothers' within minutes of the recognition of the puddle. Finally lady luck was smiling down upon him, so before Kakashi could call out a warning, Naruto smoothly spun round to face them. It was fortunate for them they recognised Naruto in time. 

The demon brothers were no longer a problem. 

"Oi dead last, hurry up." unsurprisingly it was the emo that noticed Naruto's absence first. It was bad enough his palm was being irritating, now Naruto wasn't chatting his ear off, Sasuke was getting restless.

"Call me deadlast again and you'll regret it Sasuke-teme!" Kakashi moved protectively towards Sasuke, after seeing Naruto's performance with Falcon and the obvious aquaintanceship with the demon brothers, he was beginning to rethink his treatment of the young soldier. 

"Try it dobe!" was the response, more serious than Naruto's empty threat. His mouth may have been spitting blanks, but he had noticed Kakashi's shift. Another thing the Hokage had messed up for Naruto, another piece of his picture disjointed and diluted. 

It was being ruined, piece by piece, stroke by stroke. His ambition was a pool of colours, dark colours excludes. The hokage had spilt distrust and fear into that pool, tainting it with a dark brown, the black fear was webbing its way from the corner and threatened to thread over the entire pool. But as long as red was not introduced, Naruto could steel his resolve against this meddling.

He had met the demon brothers during his mercenary days, when there had been a year of strenuous peace between the two sides in the village, he was sent out to earn money for the village to scrape together some reparations. They were mid level mercenaries who Naruto had to... steer. A few of their jobs had been black listed, but they still had taken them despite the boycott. So Naruto had been tasked to correct them. 

 

"Anything to tell us Tazuna? Maybe why a A-rank mercenary pair just turned up?" The fake smile dripped with distaste at the drunken old man as he stuttered over an excuse. Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened, moving their heads around to find the a-rank mercs. 

"Where Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura was the first question him when the mercenaries did not materialise in front of her.   
"They were scared off," the truth was heavy, "scared off by you terrifying genin." A honey sweet smile was paired with the cutting compliment, so add to the affect Kakashi ruffled Sakura's carefully styled hair. But his eyes never left Naruto's.

 

So they continued, genin following their perverted sensei dutifully after a long argument about leaving. It had been Naruto's pent up fustration that had essentially decided the outcome. Kakashi had felt the pressure of the hand before he had registered the hand itself, so for the well-being of his arm, he had agreed to continue. 

It's not as if they were defenseless. Even without Kakashi himself, he doubted that any harm would befall the two other teammates with Naruto there. Kakashi observed the hyperactive blond with his two teammates, he seemed attached. In reality, he knew Naruto would not attach that easily. Perhaps Sasuke but certainly not Sakura. Naruto had to defend his future, and the older jounin could see that Naruto considered his two teammates as detrimental to the existence of that picture. He himself must've been apart of it at one point, but he knew with how Naruto had been looking at him that he had sacrificed place for weariness. 

Mist had settled thickly over the water's surface, sinking into itself in a Nara fashion. Promptly Naruto had gushed over the size of the lake and Sakura had hit him over the back of the head in reply to his giddiness whilst attempting to merge herself into Sasuke's arm. "Whoa look! There's a man on the top." 

Kakashi squinted, confirming Naruto's announcement. There, on the surface of the lake, stood the figure of a man. 

"Look out!" The large sword impaled a tree just behind the group.

"Well well well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, a rogue ninja from the land hidden in the mist." Naruto didn't need the introduction, he had recognised the sword just as it had circled above him. He had used the sword before. It was a large chunky weapon that he hadn't been too fond of but it had been handy in some cases. Naturally a close associate of the demon brothers would make an appearance also. If experience had taught him anything then Haku was definitely within the vacinity. 

"Copy cat nin Kakashi Hatake from the village hidden in the leaves. I see you're babysitting." The cow dressed merc drew in closer to the group, lips twisting at the sight of his intended target. 

"I won't lose to Sasuke!" Is what Naruto should have said, but instead he fell to the back of the group, purposely angling his body away from the merc. Zabuza would not just leave at the sight of him, he'd have to announce how he knew Naruto, then request to fight him, then he'd leave. That was the way unfortunately with hot shot mercs. 

"And who are these naive brats?" He cooed, leaning forwards to examine the genin before landing on one half hidden behind the copy cat nin, "aw is someone afraid?" It was those kinds of comments that made Naruto want to beat his skull in, "no matter, hand over the old man and I'll let you all go." 

Well at least he had some sense. Someone who didn't however was the dark haired prodigy who had apparently noticed Naruto hiding behind Kakashi. Half of Sasuke had called for him to protect the cowering blond, the other, more competitive half called for him to call out Naruto in front of the entire group. 

"Being chicken Naruto?" The latter won.   
"Naruto?" Zabuza repeated hollowly, Kakashi finally caught on because he lunged for the other nin. It was too late. The damage had been done. Now Naruto would out in the open and the rogue nin could see him.

 

The first thing the assassin did was laugh.


	6. Patience has it's limits

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Naruto couldn't have hated Sasuke more in a moment than then. 

The laughter was deep and booming, "Haku come out here, you won't believe this!" A hunter nin boy who resembled a girl closely appeared from the cluster of trees behind the lake. 

Naruto ground his teeth, donning a clueless expression to why the two dangerous mercenarie knew his name and were laughing at him.   
"What in God's name are you doing here and what are you wearing?" Zabuza was now wheezing, Haku was now a meter away from Naruto, staring. Naruto had had enough of staring. 

"Why are you a... genin for Konoha?" Was Haku's first question.   
"I think you've mistaken me for someone else." There was no use, the Hokage had really messed it all up now. It was all his fault, there was no coming back from this. 

"You think I could mistaken the Uzumaki Naruto for someone else? The lap dog of the village of the stream? Hows that going by the way, I heard you ditched the place." Before Naruto could open his mouth to reply snarkily Sakura got over her shock. 

"Naruto's from Konoha, I think you've got the wrong person." She stated crossly, but doubt was evident as she gaged Naruto's reaction.   
"Konoha? You're the one that's got it wrong little miss, this kid is worse than me and I don't forget a face like that." Zabuza pitched in, still wheezing into his hand. Naruto's patience cracked.

"No one can be worse than you Zabuza." The smile was gone, Naruto was tired.   
"There he is!" Zabuza crowed, "since when was your hair blond? Oh shit no, it was blood wasn't it?" Naruto's hands dropped, his shoulders rolled back. Zabuza realised his mistake but it was all too good, the killer had been off the radar for so long, he couldn't miss an opportunity like this.   
Naruto growled, this wasn't how it was meant to go.

"Okay Zabuza, we'll have it your way." blood mixed into the lake water, an unattractive pink hovered in place, "I'll make my hair red again." 

Naruto couldn't bear to look back at the group, he could see the shattering of his ambitions. Well, in Konoha anyhow. 

Zabuza grinned like a mad man despite the dagger against his throat, "how could anyone not know who Uzumaki is? Have you kids never opened a bingo book? Hes been involved in so many genocides it's ridiculous! haven't you Naruto?" 

"Go home Zabuza, I'll kill you later when we don't have audience." Naruto leaned in, his voice just above a whisper. 

 

"Looking forward to it Uzumaki Naruto."


	7. The black webbing

So the red had finally corrupted the pool, that damned red. The damned colour that sat in his palm, webbing itself into his skin, taunting him with it's familiarity. 

Balanced expertly on the water's surface, Naruto gave into his resignation. He let his chakra go and slunk into the glassy surface of the water, unable to do anything else. It was lighter than blood and far more pleasurable. That's what he always enjoyed about water, it washed away any recent blood as if the act of having the blood present wasn't some unforgiveable sin, but one that could be relieved... even if the burden of it's presence couldn't be. 

Fear swam around him, fear of having to start again, and perhaps fear of their inevitable reactions. 

It was time to stop being so childish, he had been rejected before, it was never as bad as the run up to it was. 

So with that thought in mind, Naruto calmly climbed out of the water, elbows digging into the solid surface demonstrating chakra control far beyond his years. Chilled water escaped from his clothing but the weight did nothing to slow his movements. He could see their faces at this point. 

 

Sakura looked conflicted between horror and doubt, so a little in his favour. Sasuke's unmoving expression did nothing to hide his eyes, which drank in Naruto's approach with a renewed curiosity and an emotion very familiar to Naruto. Kakashi was had reacted the least, but that did little to make him less suspicious in his eyes. 

Naruto was now a few meters away from the team. Kakashi had moved in a protective stance in front of the teenagers. Against Naruto. 

It was understandable really, Naruto was a monster and has always been that way, the only way people tolerated him was by knowing little about him.  
Sakura was once again the first to move against Kakashi, "N-naruto, that guy was crazy right?" The raw emotion was enough for Naruto to avert his eyes. The mask was not appropiate. 

"Kakashi, I would never." He did not move.  
"N-Naruto?"  
The prodigy ripped past his sensei savagely, running at Naruto. Once in arms reach, Naruto found himself lifted off of the ground despite the extra weight from the trapped water. "You! You've been pretending this entire time?" He couldn't meet his eyes. 

The pale hand tightened, "you've been playing with me this entire time! You have never fought me properly, do you think I'm too weak for you? Say something!" He shook Naruto a few times before letting him drop. Sasuke's eyes were alight.

"You are not too weak Sasuke, you are stronger than many I've known." Speaking was the worst thing he could've done. Naruto knew his voice and speech was significantly different from his mask so it only added to the shock. 

Sasuke felt like exploding, screaming, crying. It was so much worse that his eyes still tracked the golden skin, his palms still ached for Naruto, someone he did not know.

"Who are you comparing me to?" quieter but much more loaded.  
Naruto fell silent, unable to answer without making the situation worse, "I said, who. Are. You. Comparing. Me. To?" The hand fisted Naruto's shirt once more. "Sasuke, thats enough." Kakashi pulled Sasuke away from Naruto, limp. 

Sakura's sniffling filled the silence, "So what he said was true? Everything you said is lie. Who are you Naruto!"  
It was Kakashi's turn to pitch in, "they deserve to know Naruto, I deserve to know."  
"You don't even know him?! How did he get onto this team Kakashi-sensei?" Hysterics were kicking in at this point as Naruto sat under the intense glare of Sasuke.

"I don't care who you are. Fight me right here right now!" The pale prodigy lunged for the blond haired ninja only to be grabbed by Kakashi again.  
"You don't want to do that Sasuke." It was a statement, but powerful enough to make Sasuke stop in his anger induced frenzy, to really observe his opponent. 

Naruto stood smoothly, clicking his joints back, filling his posture out. Sasuke watched as he always did. Sakura fell silent sensing an explanation, she truly was transparent, Naruto could see she was still expecting Naruto to break out smiling and show he had a good explanation for this misunderstanding. He did not. 

"What do you want to know?"  
"Everything."  
"How about I give you what you want?" Sasuke looked torn between mindless fighting and actually understanding the boy in front of him. The one with sun-kissed skin and bright blond hair.

 

"Zabuza and I met during my year out of the village." Naruto settled himself against a log, a meter away from the tear stained pinkette and scowling emo. "I was a shinobi of the village of the stream, as Kakashi already knows." he nodded at the grey haired jounin who tightened his lips. Sakura and Sasuke began to object, why Kakashi had known before them.  
"Kakashi was the one to... take me out of my previous village." His choice of words were far more careful than Kakashi liked. 

"Naruto, you are being vague. We wanted the truth, even i could tell them more than that." Eyebrows raised, Naruto was intruiged to know just how much Kakashi knew about him.  
"When i met Naruto here, he was the main player in a large civil war in the village of the stream, I didn't even know he had blond hair until he reached Konoha." Sakura's features morphed into a painting of confusion by the large comment so Kakashi elaborated, "His hair was slick with blood, so thick that it dyed it red to the roots." Sasuke's face turned ash grey at the thought. 

Naruto absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair, the team following this gesture, picturing the sunny blond another colour. "I was not a genocidal manic. I was a soldier, just like Kakashi is, he would be lying if he said he hadn't taken lives."  
Kakashi reeled back in defense, "I am a soldier, yes, but Naruto I do not have a reputation for the ability to decapitate with one swipe." Naruto winced, regret crawling in.  
"I did what was necessary, it is ninja's job to obey not question orders."  
"And is that why you rejected and fought to decline the non-negotiable offer of being an ANBU?"  
"You think I want to go back to being a mindless killer? I came here to retire not take up my old job for a different employer!" The slack expression scrunched into defensive scorn.  
"You... rejected being an ANBU?" Sasuke couldn't comprehend this thought process... this boy was offered the most elusive and exclusive job in the entire village and he rejected because he felt like it? On another note, Naruto was strong enough to be personally invited into the elite. Where did the lies end.

 

"Fight me. I need to..." Naruto nodded, he understood this was something Sasuke needed to do.  
"Naruto don't you dare-" Falcon was in a hospital bed.  
"I know, I won't."

Kakashi stepped back, bringing Sakura with him to make space. Sasuke wasted no time in rushing Naruto, where he usually allowed Naruto to be hot headed. 

They needed to get this out of their systems.


	8. Chapter 8

Sasuke darted at Naruto clumsily, blind confusion and rage fueling his steps. Naruto watched serenely as the Uchiha slashed and jabbed at the air around him. It was strange, usually Naruto would be seeing the Stream by now and working on instinct, but no, the fresh green of the trees around them stood prominently in his view. The soldier should have been more surprised, but of course Sasuke always did make his past dilute. 

Guilt was beginning to settle at prolonging the match, clearly toying with Sasuke, so he ended it. 3 light taps was it all it took to have the Uchiha protege mouthing at dirt. 

Kakashi’s reaction was as expected, identical to the one he wore at Naruto’s spar with Falcon, full of distrust and weariness. 

Sakura was mortified, Naruto had given her concrete evidence on all of this. Any doubt incinerated from her pink little head. 

So Naruto stepped back, keeping his expression neutral. Remorse crawled up Naruto’s throat starving him of the bright images he had seen for his future and replacing them with the image of Sasuke coughing up spit because of him. Always because of him, he could only hurt people. For the first time Naruto could remember, he closed his eyes. Cold eyelids settled over the eyes of an ex-mercenary, a mocking attempt to rid the teenager of his clear obsessive need to control. To see everything. The eyelids were always his cages, they ripped his control from him but now Naruto could only find solace in not controlling this outcome, in blinding himself to his own creation. 

 

So Naruto did step back but he also slid to his knees, eyelids still barely restraining the rapid twitches of his eyes. It was so much easier when others did not expect anything from Naruto only that he would perform his duty regardless of costs. It’s clear now these two expected much more from someone who did not know how to give. Give himself or his identity. 

 

“I’m sorry. I am so sorry.” Sasuke should be getting up around now. This assessment was proven quickly as a jolting pain flourished on the side of Naruto’s blond head and the connection of Naruto’s kneeling body to the ground. Resisting the instinct to open his eyes the foreign ninja could tell Sasuke had him pinned against the dusty clearing dirt. 

Deep erratic breaths rattled Naruto’s senses, “I am sorry.” Each word touched Naruto’s unloved lips, unfamiliarility spiraled out like cigarette smoke, firmly intoxicating to those near. Sasuke’s fist pulsated with confused rage, hovering uncertainly near the blond’s face. 

Knowing Sasuke would not connect his fist with his face, Naruto waited. “Stop hiding things from me. I don’t care what you tell Sakura and Kakashi, I want to know everything Uzumaki Naruto.” Naruto shifted under Sasuke, “look at me Naruto,” frowning light but unable to deny Sasuke anything, Naruto met absolute black with an icy blue, “whoever you were comparing me to, don’t look at them. Look at me and only me. I deserve to know you.” 

Deserve, of course, Naruto would think later dryly, the Uchiha pride is formidable. 

 

Sakura frowned at Sasuke’s choice of words. It made her feel so insignificant... but looking at Naruto and Sasuke she saw it, the walls they had created together that kept anyone even getting close to them. It was a terrifying revelation that no matter how close physically she was to her teammates she would always be on the outside looking in, into their impenetrable bubble. Her skill level wasn’t even close to being able to scratch this bubble. She had always believed it was Naruto that had steeled it against her, thus making her feel jealous of his position and making her lash out at him, but listening to Sasuke... Sakura could see it was Sasuke that didn’t want her near Naruto. Near him. 

 

The bubble, the walls, were more of Sasuke’s creation than Naruto’s. It was painfully ironic to Sakura that all this time feeling jealous over Naruto and blaming him for the distance between her and her crush, it was her crush who created the walls to jealously guard another. 

Kakashi and Sakura were invisible so the fist of the last Uchiha unclenched and connected with Naruto’s skin. Pale skin ran over sunkissed, fingertips brushing over whiskers.  
Naruto instinctively flinched away from the caress, unable to suppress his inbuilt reflexes so Sasuke hesitated. 

Fearing the departure of Sasuke’s touch, Naruto fought the instinct to run and placed his hand over Sasuke’s, applying a firm pressure to his lightly scarred cheek. 

 

“I’m from the village of the stream.” Reluctant to start, Naruto found reassurance in the unwavering attention from Sasuke, “as an orphan and Jinchuriki I was hated.” The mention of being a Jinchuriki raised an eyebrow but Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi didn’t dare interrupt. “I was blamed for many deaths in the village because of what I was, so they decided they would go out of their way to make me suffer the same pain they and their dead ones suffered.” A breathy laugh was released, blue avoided black because black understood the implications. “The abuse began the moment I could talk, it started off with just plain neglect, then it would be ‘forgetting’ to feed me, it escalated as I grew older. I don’t remember a day before my 7th birthday that I wasn’t walking around with a broken something or other, or a black eye and bruises if it was a good day.” Another loud exhalation of breath, this time sporting less fake humor. “My birthday was the worst, I would travel as far as I could for weeks around that day alone. You have to understand, the chases would last days so I had to come up with more and more inventive ways to throw shinobi off my trail. The fact I travelled so much around fire country helped a lot when I became a mercenary later.” 

Sasuke searched the familiar eyes for Naruto, but only saw ghosts and remenants of another person. 

“The village has never been secure, there has always been two opposing sides arguing for different ways of life and laws. There wasn’t an official war until I was around 11, that’s when I was enlisted. Not to say there wasn’t propaganda and a constant threat of war before that.

Children, mothers, brothers... there was no one safe from either side. If you were neutral you were slaughtered or forcibly taken depending on which side you lived closer to. I had a total of 1 month of training before I was sent out to fight.” Sakura scrunched her red dress into her hands, unable to look at Naruto. “I was so relieved,” bitterness smiled, “I had a purpose for a while, I had a connection to others around me, so I worked hard. But it wasn’t only after a year of fighting that I realized, this only gave them a real reason to fear me, it was no longer ignorance that made them abandon me, neglect me, hate me, it was... me.”

Kakashi mindlessly tugged at his mask whilst Sakura gripped his sleeve.

“Me. It was me!” Bitterness reared it’s head, “So I lost hope in truly connecting with others. Field work became training for me. A few upper ranked shinobi gave me scrolls but it was just to the side an upper hand in the war.

After 3 years of mindlessly enacting my village’s wishes there was a brief peace treaty. But really we all knew that wouldn’t last. Still, I took the opportunity to travel. That’s how I ended up a mercenary, I needed money as I was only fed on soldier’s rations. The politicians wouldn’t want their best soldier going hungry and becoming incompetent. 

Mercenary work was easy, far too easy and it was out there I heard about other villages, visited other villages.” Naruto’s distant expression twisted, “peace. It took me so long to understand it, to understand what the smiles were filled with. Ignorance? Selective blindness? It doesn’t matter, what matters is that something like that is just out of my grasp no matter how superficial it is, anything is better than what I have. What I had.

I returned to the stream once the treaty was broken to fight again. But I was so tired. I had had a taste of peace and it was so sweet. In the stream openness, trust and intimacy was always rewarded with pain. So it was only natural I had begun to link the two. Smiling was such a rare commodity in the stream when I saw it used so commonly in other villages I had questioned their sanity. How messed up is that?”

There was no laughing now, no semblance of mocking fondness. 

“I killed more than I dreamed in those days and soon all I wore was red. Red. All red. Everyone around me wore it too, you’d have thought it was a fashion trend! But at the end of the day it was always me standing alone, the blood was so hard to get off of my skin I gave up. I don’t remember when I stopped scrubbing it off my skin and allowed it to take permenant residence. Perhaps during the time many of soldiers began to switch sides, attacking each other, their own sides. 

I fought for another year before I met Kakashi. And well, the rest is history.” 

 

Naruto knew Sasuke’s answer before hearing it, he had feared the reaction. “Naruto revenge is a hard path but that village ruined your life! We can help each other-“ resentment swelled and Sasuke found his hand slapped away from Naruto by the very hand that had held it. 

“No.” Naruto peeled Sasuke off of him, uninterested in the debate. “Revenge is pointless and chasing it would mean I’d have to reenter that god forsaken village.” Burning blue snatched the others’ attention, “I just got out!” He tore at his cheeks, “they have brilliant sensor nin don’t you see? The moment I even briefly touch their border they’ll be coming for me. Revenge? You think I need something that shallow? I’ve lived my entire life trying escape those kinds of pits. They’re destroying each other for me, I don’t need to get involved anymore.” 

“They deserve worse!” 

“You’re not listening to me.” Grounding out, Naruto could see the fruitlessness of the argument. “Nothing could be worse.”

“That’s enough Sasuke.” Kakashi could see the arguement was going nowhere, Naruto had pushed Sasuke away, maintaining the distance with caution. 

 

Naruto’s past didn’t surprise Kakashi too much, he had gathered Naruto wasn’t exactly the most pampered but it was clear Naruto was glossing over the details. Whether to shield them from the gory details or just because of his blatant paranoia about opening up, Kakashi couldn’t decide. Still, it was surprising that this was normal behavior in a village. 

 

 

The bubble was stretched now, but naturally Sakura wasn’t blind, the walls were still steel and were glinting dangerously at her stare. Sasuke would never strip away that steel no matter if Naruto rejected his help or himself, the brief touch earlier had only reinforced his will. At first glance the bubble acted as a way to stop people of a lower standard of power from interacting with the pair of them, but really it as to hoard Naruto, to hoard his attention, secrets and person. 

Sasuke had ignored Kakashi’s warning, Kakashi was not a part of Sasuke’s world. As far as the avenger was concerned, the Jounin was there only for progress of power. He was insignificant.

Sasuke’s eye’s set alight, he wouldn’t let them get away with what they did to his Naruto.


End file.
